ILC Course Criteria
- Courses listed as 3000 or 4000 level courses will not be approved for ILC credit;
- Courses may have no more than one pre-requisite, and that course must be an approved
ILC course;
- Courses cannot limit enrollment to students in a specific major or in a cohort – must
be open to all students;
- Courses must be offered at least once within two academic years;
- For cross-listed courses, departments involved consult and submit one course application;
- For sequenced courses, course proposals must be submitted at the same time;
- Courses can only be listed in one Louisiana Board of Regents area (Honors seminar
courses are exempt);
- It is the responsibility of the Honors college to ensure seminar courses approved
for ILC are not identical to ILC courses taught in the home academic department under
other course numbers;
- Courses include integrative learning pedagogies and assignment(s);
- Courses identify the primary ILC proficiency;
- The primary ILC proficiency must be reflected in 20% of course content, and the instrument(s)
used to evaluate the primary proficiency must account for at least 20% of the course
grade;
- Courses acknowledge an understanding that the proficiency and dimension(s) will be
assessed each time the course is taught (including all modalities); and
- Previously approved general education courses or new course listings must submit the
ILC Course Proposal Form.
ILC Syllabus Elements
Include the following statement (required): Integrative learning allows students to make simple connections among ideas and experiences
and across disciplines and perspectives. The LSU Integrative Learning Core (ILC) curriculum
is designed to develop student abilities to transfer their learning to new situations
and demonstrate a sense of self as a learner. A fundamental goal of the ILC is to
foster students' practical and intellectual capacities associated with integrative
learning in preparation for high competence and functionality in their post-baccalaureate
careers. This course fulfills the BoR Area of ________ and provides students experience
with the ILC proficiency of ________.
The Courses and Curricula Committee recommends the following elements to be listed and provides a sample syllabus on
the Committee's website. The below elements are being shared to help ILC course proposers
ensure their syllabi are in compliance. Please refer to the sample syllabus provided
on the Committee's website for the full list of required polic statements.
- The course title, course number and section, semester and year.
- Instructor name, contact information including email address, office location, and
virtual meeting url if applicable.
- A listing of office hours.
- The course description including description from the LSU catalog, along with any
additional description.
- A description of the student learning ojectives for the course.
- Indicate the modality: web-based, face-to-face, LSU Online, hybrid; sybchronous or
asybchronous.
- A list of required materielas, including books or equipment, required for the course.
- An outline of the grading scale and policies including:
- A list that shows how the total points earned in the course will be mapped into the
LSU plus/minus grade scheme.
- A description of all course activities from which the student grades will be determined.
Describe the activity and the method that will be used to assign a grade.
- The anticipated timelines for returning graded coursework.
- Attendance grades must specify how the grade will be calculated and what accommodations
will be given for excused absences.
- A description of how accommodations for excused absences will be handled. Please refer
to Policy Statement 22.
- A seven or 15-week outline of course subject matter including the approximate exam
schedule and deadlines for the submission of student work.
- The course communication policy including a statement about communication between
the instructor and students will be managed.
- The Academic Continuity Plan - In the event of a campus-wide closure, this course may transition to an alternative
form of instruction. I will notify you by [e-mail, Moodle announcement] as soon as
possible of the format our course will take. For example, the class may be held via
Zoom and recorded for those unable to attend, or I will provide a lesson online that
you can do asynchronously, or we may cover content at a different pace or schedule.
If the emergency closure impacts scheduled tests, I will make alternative arrangements
as soon as possible. If alternative formats are not available due to widespread loss
of power and/or internet or other extenuating circumstances, the University may schedule
makeup days per Policy Statement 117.
- A C-I Certification Syllabus Statement, if applicable.
- A statement clearly identifying the class as service-learning, if applicable.
- A statement and reference link to the expectations of student effort as specified
in the LSU credit hour definition in Policy Statement 45.
- A statement and reference link to the LSU Code of Student Conduct.
- A statement and reference link regarding accommodations for disabilities as specified in Policy Statement 26.
- A statement regarding academic achievement as shown in the example syllabus via the
Center for Academic Success.
Instrument Choice(s) and Assessment Guidance
Each ILC course will include a course-specific assessment plan. This plan details how each instructor for a given ILC course will collect and analyze
data that assesses the primary proficiency and corresponding dimension(s) that are
addressed in the course. Assessment data are collected by section and aggregated to
the course-level according to the assessment process identified in the course proposal
in addition to comparing the data across modalities (if applicable). Details regarding
the ILC assessment reporting process can be found on the Assessment page.
Instructors have two choices as they develop this plan.
- Option A: Instructors may select one or more of the proficiencies default dimensions
to be addressed in the course.
- Option B: Alternatively, if the instructor prefers not to assess at least one of the
default dimensions, the instructor(s) have the discretion to identify at least one
alternative dimension to assess the proficiency. These alternative dimensions and
assessment protocols must be approved at the department level, either by the department
head, an assessment committee, or an individual designated as assessment coordinator.
The Department Level Approved Assessment Plan will then be submitted to the ILC committee for approval.
ILC Instrument(s) Choices and Assessment options include: essay, extended response questions(s), lab report, multiple choice
questions, performance, presentation, reflection paper, short answer question(s),
or other.
Departments need only assess a majority of sections annually for each course. However,
it is important that these sections be as representative as possible of all sections
(and modalities) of the course, including those taught in the summer or intersession
terms.
A common standard for sampling is work from 10% of the students, or 10 students, whichever is greater, but this
may be problematic for large classes, depending on the assessment instrument chosen.
You do not need to sample; if you prefer to submit data from your entire class (the
entire population), you are free to do so.
